It is with pleasure that we, the committee members, announce that Bishop Peter Hickman is willing to stand for re-election to the office. He has participated in the process developed by the Nominating Committee in accordance with our new Canon 68 which was enacted at our Synod in 2010.

The nominating committee group was formed in June 2011 and has been working through the creation and execution of a process which will serve for this election of a Presiding Bishop. It is a process that is in formation, and we hope will serve as a good basis for how the ECC can go about this work in future elections.

Our process began with a close examination of the canons, recognizing what is in the constitution (e.g., Canon 68 speaks to the election, Canons 1, 4, 5 and 8 speak to the role of Presiding Bishop) and what isn't. Additionally the committee was blessed with gifted individuals who willingly invested time and energy into proposing ideas and approaches to the work. The result was a survey which was distributed to the entire Communion, asking about hopes, dreams, concerns and desires of the people we serve and what they want to see in our next national episcopal leader.

Complete text: NPB final document (pdf)

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." (Acts 2:42)
April 4, 2012 Feast of Saint Isidore
Wednesday of Holy Week

Introduction
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The local Church has been historically understood as comprising the bishop, laity, and clergy of a specific geographical area, in accord with the ancient Catholic tradition - an understanding of the Church which is embraced by the Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC). The local Church is constituted whole, full and complete with these three elements - yet remains part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church (marked as such, which is rightly called a "communion.") "There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:5-6)

Local Churches are "in communion" with one another, and the ECC reflects this in the first canon of its constitution, which states that "The Communion is a confederation of independently incorporated faith communities…" With the bishop and laity the local Church is fully constituted - and in relation to other fully constituted local Churches becomes what has been historically called an "eparchy" (in Greek) - or the familiar term, diocese. So a diocese is correctly called "the Church," for it is comprised of all the elements of "the Church." No local faith community is complete without its bishop - the successor of the apostles, elected by the people of that diocese and ordained to that holy order of bishop by other bishops who share in the historic collegial apostolic succession of the Church.

Complete text: Local Church (pdf)